27th October 2018 - Ashington (h)

Jack Foalle has gone and post-Jaxit Whitley was not looking good. There may well have been an exciting game at Heaton Stannington but the hard fact of it all was that the lads had lost 4-3 to the Division 2 side and that their goals had been scored by ex-Whitley players. Can we have Andy Robertson back now please?
My morning had started with a frozen, wet, sleety, thunder-and-lightningy and windy parkrun. The prospect of venturing out again to watch the Bay was not tempting. However, on the fast-walk up Hillheads Road, I was delighted that my early morning activity paid off. The two more mature men in flat caps were easily overtaken by Marden Bridge School, as were the woman with her young son by the bus stop. Next up there was the man with his headphones in, which was more of a challenge but sure enough he was left trailing in my wake. The two old fellas in Bay bobble hats proved to have had too much of a head start to catch but as I entered the ground my extra layers made me feel extremely warm.

Courtesy of @WhitleyBayFC Twitter

Meeting up with Gibbo and little Gibbo, Heather and the Kinnon it was clear that the youngest was taking results badly and had come up with her own way of watching the Bay...

Nevertheless she was here and so were a a very respectable 341. Also in the crowd were a group of Ashington fans who had walked to the game in aid of Prostate cancer. David Hall came across to say hello, jangling a bucket so we added to his growing collection. With that, he was gone.
The strong wind whipped around Hillheads and made good football difficult so it was no surprise that there were few chances and little to excite. The most interesting part of the first 20 minutes was Little Gibbo's search for the nearest bin: Bingate. There were just too many choices. There was relief all round when she decided upon the final destination for her twix wrapper. This relief was doubled (if that was possible) when Ashington hit the post. An Ashington striker bore down on goal then perfectly slotted past Brannen only to see his shot bounce back off the near post to be cleared by a grateful Bay defender.
Soon after, the Bay were ahead: Kieran Brannen coming up with a super strike that looked out of place in the match.

Into the second half, it was the Colliers who struck the equaliser and there was a sense of deja vu as the Bay were rocked by the goal. Colliers keeper, Conor Grant began to feel unused so decided upon a spot of yoga, lying down to stretch as the match continued at the other end of the pitch.

Ollie Martin came on for Andrei and both he and Kieran looked dangerous on the break.
The Ashington walkers were enjoying themselves and gave us a rendition of their favourite ode to their home town:

"Oh Ashington,

Is Wonderful,

Oh Ashington is wonderful,

It's full of of clubs, bookies and chip shops..."

There was a moment of hope when Taggart challenged for a through ball but his chance rolled wide.

Controversy followed as Ollie Martin looked to have superbly volleyed home a great move but Stephen Ramsay was ruled to be offside. I couldn't see it myself and neither could Gibbo and co!

Shock! No way offside!

In the closing moments, a rash tackle from the Bay's Luke Taylor began a bout of handbags and the young defender was given his marching orders. The final whistle blew and the Bay had extended their unbeaten run to two. 1-1 the final score.

Next week, we will be seeing our friends from NE29 on two occasions, fingers crossed for a place in the next round of the League Cup and three points for the Bay!

13th Octobe 2018 - Newcastle Benfield (h)

In typical wbayblogger tradition, I had missed the league game of the season when the Bay outplayed leaders Hebburn 4-1 the previous saturday. The chance to spend a day with my eldest daughter at a day of music in Manchester proved too strong to resist. Local legends Sam Fender (did I mention I taught him when he was 8?) and the Pale White needed my support after all!
Therefore, today I was out to make amends for my lack of loyalty towards the Bay and hope I could enjoy a home win against a team they had beaten 6-1 in August. My first aim was to catch all of the Bay goals on video for the first time this season. A new techique was employed: videoing done in 10 minute sequences with a short break in between. I would not be defeated in my quest for documenting the Bay's attacking prowess.
Long-haired Andrew, the Benfield fan appeared along with son Thomas and I tried to not get too excited when they railed at the weaknesses of their own team. Unfrotunately the big factor was the appointment of new manager Tom Wade in the preceding week. Always a bad sign!
The rain that had soaked the Boy Mark and I at parkrun looked to be on its way out as we left the car to squeeze through the increasingly narrowing gap that exists between the back fence of the Hillheads Road houses and the Scout hut field. I'm sure that, in the week, they get the scouts to push their fence to gradually extend their field without anyone noticing. Bay fans be warned: those Scouts are up to no good! No good comes of a woggle!
There didn't seem to be that many fans there when we arrived but by kick off 455 souls had arrived and there were a few fans from Benfield along to add to the fun!
I was looking forward to seeing the Bay's new Romanian superstar Andre Ardrelean but Thomas put the dampeners on my excitement by giving his frank opinion of a player he had seen at Team North. He surely couldn't mean our new striker!
Before kick off, Andy Gowen's new tactic to win games was revealed as no less than 25 Bay players of varying ages ran onto the pitch.

Unfortunately, the ref spotted the unequal number and Andy was forced to choose only eleven. The tallest eleven got the nod! The smaller ones ran off to get their high energy drinks and crisps.

An early shout for a foul on Foalle was turned down but the swift one was not to be denied and when the legs of a Benfield defender were wrapped around his ankles, he tumbled and had no qualms at appealling for a penalty which he was duly awarded.
Up stepped Gavin Caines...

Cool as you like, as the keeper dived one way he rolled the ball into the other. 1-0 to the Bay after 18 minutes. Soon after there was double delight for the Bay as a shot from the edge of the box flew into Benfield's Granger's net: 2-0 to the Bay. A super Salmon strike!

It looked liked our own Peter Andre (here to help) was destined to double the lead after Foalle had perfectly supplied the pass from his position on the ground...

But a defender was on hand to deny the Romanian superstar a home debut goal. "Told you he was $%&@e!" commented Thomas but I thought he was being a bit harsh.

Unfortunately, the Bay took their foot off the peddle and Benfield roared back, to the accompaniment of some of their pleasantly sporting fans. "This isn't good enough Benfield!" "Sort it out!" "Work!" were some of their more encouraging remarks.

But the visitors were roaring back and only Craig McFarlane's backside prevented a goal in the 31st minute. This was followed by a triple B save sequence...Bannen then the bar and another Bay backside. It was backs and bums to the wall time!

Thankfully, half time arrived and we were still 2-0 ahead!

Unfortunately the Bay luck ran out in the second half as the lead was wiped out by the 56th minute. Sadly for the Bay, 2-2 was a fair reflection of the game. I was glad Thomas and Andrew had chosen to stand with their Benfield buddies in the second half. 

Foalle almost scored with a superb lob (the only Bay attack I didn't manage to catch as the camera was cooling). However his effort dropped wide and Peter Andre wasn't able to help this time by keeping the ball in play. 

The chances came at both ends but Foalle was denied  by the impressive Granger who was confidently dominating his area.

It looked like the Bay would rue the missed chances when Benfield were awarded a penalty but Super Bannen came up trumps with a super safe. Soon after, we thought Jack Foalle had sealed the victory, pouncing on another rebound to make the score 3-2 with 18 minutes left.

The Bay might have had a penalty when the ref told Issy and Benfield's Robson to stop their personal battle. 

I'm watching...always watching! Shame you weren't watching the same as everyone else!

He told them he was watching but when Robson's arms were lovingly wrapped around Issy, Mr Ellis decided that Issy had backed into both Robson and Granger.

With the last kick of the game, Benfield had the last laugh, bundling home a 93rd minute corner. 

It was a fair result overall but frustrating to draw so late on. At least I managed to catch all three goals on camera. A first for the season at least.